DUDE - Autobiograffitti (2023) Hi-Res

With his band The Muggs Detroit rock and roll mainstay Tony Muggs has delivered 6 albums of distinctive heavy blues rock. But his solo albums have a decidedly different flavour. Under the Dude moniker he released 2012’s Kid Gloves and 2023 year’s Autobiograffitti, the latter coinciding with his book of the same name, and the contents are more solidly pop. The vibe is very Beatles 1966. There’s whimsey, there’s drone, there’s sometimes even a heavy kick lurking beneath the poppy melodies. Having said all that, Kid Gloves’ opening cut “Not Exactly Where I Should Be” actually suggests a Monkees sense of fun. By contrast “Sweet Danielle” matches a more Beatles “I’m Only Sleeping” melancholy pop while “Two Minutes Hate” is more in “Tomorrow Never Knows” or “She Said She Said” vein. Then again “Soliloquy” sounds very Pugwash to me. A decade later the Beatles influences spread from 1966 to 1968 on Autobiograffitti. There’s a more loose, old school rock and roll vibe on tracks like “Ahh Geez Louise” or a touch of Nesmith’s country mode Monkees on “Devil’s In My Whiskey Once Again.” But other tracks like “Red Coat For Sale” are Revolver-era rocking tight. Both “Mary Mary (Quite Controversial)” and “You Are So Wonder” harken back to that “Doctor Robert” or “Paperback Writer” feel. Then the record ends on a more dreamy psychedelic pop note with “Tomorrow Is Promised to No One.”